Entry 1: The Knothole
Perspective: Arthur Radley
Watching outside the window, I saw Scout run past my house alone. I assumed that her older brother got dismissed later in the day. Scout always ran past the house as if she was scared of what lives in me and my brother's house. Wanting to communicate with the Finch children, I stuck two pieces of chewing gum in the oak tree’s knothole in the front yard. One afternoon, I spotted Scout run past once again, but stop after catching a glimpse of something in the knothole. My heart raced as she snatched the chewing gum from the tree and ran toward her house. This was the first step of getting closer the children. I continued to place little gifts in the knothole, one after another, which always disappeared when the children passed the knothole. Contentment filled my heart as the children returned with delight, puzzlement, and apprehension. I gave them a pair of good-luck pennies, gray twine, two soap dolls that I carved into Jem’s and Scout’s likenesses, an old spelling bee medal, and a broken watch and chain with an aluminum knife. My brother found out about this line of communication soon after my last gift. Not wanting the children to communicate with me, Nathan plugged the knothole with cement. My heart plummeted as I noticed the sad expression on Jem’s face the next day. I hoped that although we were unable to communicate with each other, the Finch children would keep my gifts as a sign of my friendship and affection.
Entry 2: The Fire
Perspective: Miss Maudie
A little after one past midnight, my house was on fire. Before the fire trucks arrived, the neighbors came out and tried to save my furniture. The neighbors showed me their outpouring care by risking their lives to save some of my possessions. It was very influential and heartwarming to see the people’s compassionate hearts supporting each other at a crucial time. I was filled with relief when the fire trucks arrived just in time to stop the spread of fire. No one was hurt, and the fire did not spread to the extent that the neighboring house was burned down like mine. Around noon, I gazed down at my azaleas that were frozen and charred from the fire and cold weather. The Finch children appeared and showed great concern for me, but I didn’t want them to worry. I became lively like always and responded my best with optimism. The response was as simple as, since my house burned down, I could start making a smaller house with a bigger garden for my azaleas. Life is more precious than my possessions, and I will not let something as small as a fire to take over and make me grieve. I want the kids to understand that no matter how difficult a situation might be; one must always think positively.
Entry 3: The Lynch Mob
Perspective: Atticus
The light outside of Tom Robinson’s cell accompanied me in the dark night as I stood guard outside his cell. Based on what Heck Tate said, I was aware that a lynch mob was coming to take Tom’s life. I believed Tom was innocent, and because I am Tom’s lawyer and it is the moral thing to do, I will risk my life to defend Tom from any harm that comes in his way. The lynch mob did not take into consideration that Tom was innocent because of their prejudice, which will lead them to make a rash decision to kill an innocent man. I waited as the men got out of their cars and crowded around me. The men demanded that I move out of their way to Tom’s cell, but I refused without any hesitation. Before I knew what happened, Scout called my name in a loud voice and came running into the mob that was followed by Jem and Dill. I was in absolute fear as the children came running into the crowd without knowing how dangerous the situation had become. These men were drunk and were ready to commit murder. The children might have gotten hurt if the situation became worse and got caught in the imminent violence the men planned to commit. I immediately demanded that Jem take the Scout and Dill home, but Jem refused as if he was a grown man making his own decisions. I may have been willing to risk my own life, but never the children’s lives. Amidst the tense situation, Scout tried to make a friendly conversation with Mr. Cunningham, which must have been the only familiar face out of the mob. Scout must have shown the men some sense of morality through her innocence and placed Walter Cunningham in my shoes, because soon after, the men retreated. Both of my children showed me their bravery and that they were growing more mature. If the children were not at Tom Robinson’s cell, I could not have possibly took on the mob myself without any use of violence. There’s a chance I may not have even been alive at this point.
Entry 4: The Verdict
Perspective: Jem
Each person in the jury that said Tom Robinson was guilty was like someone stabbing a knife through my heart with every word. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was confident that Atticus won this case with his strong speech when he presented the case with solid evidence and detailed reasoning. The speech should have convinced the entire jury that Tom Robinson was innocent. After the trial ended, I was stunned, angry, and ended up crying. The result of the trial was absolutely unfair. I asked Atticus for the answer to my confusion, but he simply replied, “They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it - it seems that only children weep.” I really looked up to Atticus and always wanted to follow his footsteps as a lawyer. But I was a fool to not realize that his job was an unpleasant one. I bet Atticus knew that the trial was not going to end up fair and square like I thought it would. I never even expected that prejudice was strong enough to make the jury overlook the fact that Tom Robinson was innocent. This event not only changes the kind of lawyer that I want to be, but the kind of man that I want to become.
Overall Reflection
During this point of view assignment, I learned that you should always take another’s perspective to understand their feelings and thoughts. In this assignment, I took the other character’s point of view during significant events such as Arthur Radley and the knothole scene, Miss Maudie during the event when her house burned down, Atticus during the lynch mob scene, and Jem when he saw the unfair result of the trial due to prejudice. I believe Mr. Crooke’s purpose in creating this assignment was to consider the other characters’ points of view besides Scout’s in specific events throughout the book. Harper Lee wrote her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in Scout’s perspective as the narrator. In Scout’s point of view, the readers see the world as Scout does, through the eyes of an innocent and naive child. Atticus tried to give Scout advice on how to get along better with all kinds of people after she had a particularly tough day with her first day of first grade. His advice was: “You never really understand a person unless you consider the person’s point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around it” (Lee 39). After taking this into consideration, Scout took Miss Caroline’s perspective to understand her thoughts and feelings.